Wenger won’t pick his successor

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has declared that he will not imitate former Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson by selecting his own successor. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

London – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has declared that he will not imitate former Manchester United counterpart Alex Ferguson by selecting his own successor.

Ferguson recommended David Moyes to the United board after retiring last year, but the former Everton manager has endured a disappointing first season at Old Trafford.

Wenger, 64, recently presided over his 1,000th game as Arsenal manager, but he feels that it will not be his responsibility to play a part in the recruitment process when the club go in search of their next head coach.

“I always said, and you can check that, everybody has his job (at the club). My job is to do well for the team, not to do anything else,” he said, in comments reported by several British newspapers on Saturday.

Asked if he would choose his own successor, the Frenchman replied: “No.”

Wenger's contract is due to expire at the end of the current season, and although he has verbally agreed to remain at the club, he suggested that he could yet change his mind.

“My word is my word,” Wenger said.

Pressed as to whether that meant that he would definitely stay at the club next season, he replied: “Yes, unless I decide otherwise. I have told you many times, we have had no time to sit down and do it.

“(I am) not going anywhere, don't worry for that, but I want to have a feeling coming out of the season that I have done the maximum for the club.”

Wenger was speaking ahead of his side's home game with Premier League title rivals Manchester City later on Saturday. – Sapa-AFP